TN Livestock Trust Management (TNLTM) is moving toward a fully pen-fed cattle production model as it advances plans to tokenise livestock based on live weight for listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).
The initiative forms part of a broader strategy by TN CyberTech Investments Holdings Limited (TNCIH), TNLTM’s holding company, to deepen the use of asset-backed financial products and expand alternative investment opportunities linked to agriculture.
If implemented, the model would allow cattle to be converted into tradable digital tokens backed by the animals’ live weight, enabling investors to buy, sell, or use the tokens as collateral while unlocking new sources of capital for Zimbabwe’s livestock sector.
In response to inquiries by NewsDay Business, TNCIH group chief executive officer Tawanda Nyambirai said the trust plans to begin by tokenising cattle already owned by the company before extending the model to investors and clients.
“So, to move with the times, we want to tokenise cattle deposits. We will start by tokenising the proprietary herd that we already have,” he said.
“After weighing the cattle, we will issue tokens against the live weight. One kilogramme of live weight, for example, will be equivalent to one token. The value of each token will be determined by a committee of experts that we will put together, and these experts will rely largely on cattle auction results.”
Under the proposed model, investors would be able to buy, sell, and potentially use the tokens as collateral for loans, creating a tradable livestock-backed investment instrument.
This comes at a time when capital has largely stagnated in Zimbabwe.
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Consequently, the proposal has significant potential to generate liquidity when the initiative opens up to the market, particularly given that the country’s livestock population was recorded at 5,74 million in 2024.
Nyambirai said the company plans to engage the VFEX regarding a possible listing of the cattle tokens.
“The benefit of listing on the VFEX is that token holders would enjoy certain tax advantages and the tokens would also be denominated in United States dollars,” he said.
“This is particularly important given the uncertainty around future currency developments in Zimbabwe. Tokenising cattle and listing the tokens on the VFEX will effectively place a hard-currency asset in the hands of investors.”
Nyambirai added that token holders would be able to trade the instruments at any time or leverage them to access funding from the group’s TN CyberTech Bank for other projects and investments.
The cattle tokenisation project also coincides with the TN Livestock Trust’s planned migration to a 100% feedlot or pen-feeding system, aimed at increasing the carrying capacity of the trust’s farms and improving efficiency in livestock management.
“This will enable us to take in several thousand cattle as deposits and manage them on behalf of our clients,” Nyambirai said.
The company also plans to maintain a digital ledger of all token holders through TN Asset Management.
“There will be a ledger that records all the clients who have tokens, and that ledger will be kept at TN Asset Management. It will be accessible to all our depositors so they can verify the ownership of tokens on our platform,” Nyambirai said.
“Token holders will also be welcome to visit the farms, subject to veterinary procedures to ensure that we do not introduce diseases to the cattle.”
